Platform Overview

Housr is made up of several systems that work together to deliver the student housing experience. This page explains what each system does and how they connect.

Systems at a Glance

System	What It Is	Who Uses It
Website	Public-facing property search and marketing site	Students, Parents, Agents
Mobile App	Full student experience on iOS and Android	Students
Portal	Internal admin and management tool	Housr team
API	The backend that powers everything	All systems connect to it
Property Feeds	Automated property data imports	Letting agents (indirectly)

How They Connect


┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│   Website    │     │  Mobile App │     │     Portal      │
│ (housr.com)  │     │ (iOS/Android)│    │  (Admin Tool)   │
└──────┬───────┘     └──────┬──────┘     └───────┬─────────┘
       │                    │                     │
       └────────────┬───────┘                     │
                    │                             │
              ┌─────▼─────────────────────────────▼──┐
              │              API (Backend)             │
              │     Stores and serves all data         │
              └─────────────────┬─────────────────────┘
                                │
                    ┌───────────▼───────────┐
                    │    Property Feeds     │
                    │  (Automated imports)  │
                    └──────────────────────┘

Website

The Housr website at housr.com is the public-facing side of the platform. It serves two markets — the UK site and the US site — from a single codebase.

Key capabilities:

Property search with filters (city, price, bedrooms, distance to university)
City pages with curated property listings and local information
Property detail pages with photos, pricing, and amenity details
Agent enquiry forms so students can get in touch about a property
Blog and content pages
Embedded content management for the Housr team to publish articles

Mobile App

The Housr app is the primary product for students. It provides the full range of features beyond just property search.

Key capabilities:

Property exploration with map and list views
Viewing requests and management
Bills management — get quotes, sign up, submit meter readings (UK only)
Perks and discounts from brand partners
Events discovery, RSVPs, and ticket purchasing
Roommate matching (Roomie)
Rideshare for trips between cities
Saved properties and group sharing with friends
Push notifications for updates across all features

Portal

The Portal is Housr’s internal administration tool. It is used by the Housr operations team to manage the platform day-to-day.

Key capabilities:

Property and listing management
User administration
Event creation and management
Perk and brand partner management
Bills and billing oversight (UK)
Analytics and reporting
Society and organisation management

API

The API is the backend system that powers all of Housr’s products. The website, mobile app, and portal all communicate with the API to read and write data.

There are two versions:

API v1 — The original backend, still used for some older features
API v2 — The modern backend, used for all new development

All new features are built on API v2. Over time, remaining v1 functionality is being migrated.

Property Feeds

Property Feeds is an automated system that imports property data from letting agents and property management platforms. Rather than agents manually entering every property into Housr, feeds pull the data in automatically and keep it up to date.

This means property listings on Housr stay current without manual effort from agents, and students always see the latest availability and pricing.